[najida]

Fair enough,

I think my point was that we, as a culture, don't understand what it's like to bury nearly half the children you birth. I remember hearing my Granny weep about the 3 she buried in one year (2 at once and then another 8 months later), and my other grandma talking about the babies she lost. And so forth, listening to various family stories. Seems everyone lost a baby or 2.

There are patterns in graveyards ya know.

You can see big epidemics (yellow fever, the big flu epidemic) and then little mini ones (a bout of stomach virus or diphtheria).

I also remember the polio epidemic, the iron lungs and the palpable fear that was felt in the community. Then when the vaccine came out, people literally walked for miles, carrying their kids to the site where the vaccine was being dispensed, and the near panic when a rumor started that there wasn't enough vaccine.

It's all a very vivid memory still.

[Orgiveme]

I remember hearing my Granny weep

I've lost count of how many times I've heard my son wail because he's lost his life. Thankfully, he doesn't know the real reason he can't live with his own family, which he wants more than anything else in the world but can't have because we can't maintain him due to his emotional volatility.

His is a living death, thanks to autism, and our mourning will not cease until we die.